Electric Picnic battles €2m losses

ELECTRIC Picnic organisers insist this year's festival is going ahead despite losses of more than €2m over two years.

THE festival, held in Stradbally, Co Laois, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and tickets for the event are expected to go on sale in March.

The festival, which has attracted international stars such as The Killers, Elbow, Ed Sheeran, The Chemical Brothers and Arcade Fire since 2011, went through a management shake-up last November.

It recorded losses of €2.1m for the years 2010 and 2011, according to EP Republic, which runs the festival.

Early-bird tickets for the festival did not go on sale in December last year as is usually the case, but Mr Benn has denied this is because Electric Picnic is being cancelled this year.

EP Republic is jointly owned by Melvin Benn and John Reynolds. Mr Benn said that early-bird tickets did not go on sale because of the need to get "a new company structure" in place after Festival Republic Dublin was acquired by LN-Gaiety Holding last November.

LN-Gaiety Holding is owned by international music promoters Live Nation and Gaiety investments, the parent company to Denis Desmond's MCD concerts.